Language And Age Theories

Question 1

What did Beth Kemp propose? (6)

Answer 1

• generation specific slang
• older people use words in “outmoded” ways
• “must be” = older , “has got to be” = younger
• more glottalisation in younger speech
• uptalk amongst youth
• older people use traditional dialects and young use combined varieties

Question 2

Who proposed the West Yorkshire study?

Answer 2

Gary Ives

Question 3

What did Gary Ives propose? (3)

Answer 3

• 100% of teens thought people talk differently due to age
• 17 year olds had taboo and specific slang to their age group
• text talk language like “cba” and “wtf” fell in speech for 15 year olds

Question 4

What did Penelope Eckert (1998) propose?

Answer 4

Peoples language is affected by important life events

Question 5

What did Penelope Eckert (2003) propose?

Answer 5

Slang is used to connect an individual to youth culture and to set themselves off from other generations.
E.g. “okay”, “like”, rising inflection and multiple negation

Question 6

What did Penelope Eckert (1982) - Jocks and Burnouts propose?

Answer 6

People tend to speak more like their friends or those who shared social practices together than others belonging in the same demographic category e.g. social class

Question 7

What did Stenstrom propose?

Answer 7

Teen language includes: irregular turn taking, overlaps, indistinct articulation, word shortening’s, teasing, name calling, verbal duelling, slang, taboo, language mixing

Question 8

What did Stronsom, Anderson and Hasun (2002) find in their study?

Answer 8

• study of 14-16 year olds in London.
• most common non standard forms = ain’t , ellipsis of auxiliary verbs, non standard pronouns

Question 9

What did Martinez (2011) propose?

Answer 9

Teenagers use negatives more frequently than adults

Question 10

What did Berland (1997) propose?

Answer 10

• working class teens used to”innit” more
• middle class teens used “yeah” more

Question 11

What did Odato propose?

Answer 11

• found children as young as 4 use “like”
• younger children copy the language of those older than them

Question 12

What did Vivian de Klerk (2005) propose?

Answer 12

• young people seek to create identities and have the freedom to challenge linguistic norms
• patterns of speech are formed by parents but eroded by patterns in peer groups

Question 13

What did Jenny Cheshire (1987)

Answer 13

Adult and child language can change due to important life events like marriage

Question 14

What did S. Bigham (2012) propose?

Answer 14

“Emerging Adulthood” = period of time where important life events occur at 18-25 years old

Question 15

What did Palacios (2011) propose?

Answer 15

Teens use negatives like “nah”, “nope”, “dunno” and “never” more than adults

Question 16

What did Zimmerman and West (2009) propose?

Answer 16

Graffiti, music, media and communication are influences on teen speech